Vettel speaks of 'respect' for Alonso

[theforce]

http://en.espnf1.com/redbull/motorsp...tml?CMP=chrome

Sebastian Vettel says he has respect for Fernando Alonso "for the fact that he's fighting" right to the end of the championship.

Alonso's second place in Brazil was not enough to take the title as Vettel won the championship by three points as a result of his sixth place finish. When asked if he had any pity for Alonso having come so close, Vettel said he only had respect for his opponent but was focusing on his own achievements.

"I respect him as a driver for the fact that he's fighting and he's one of the best drivers we have in Formula One," Vettel said. "But obviously you look after yourself and we were fighting as well. I don't want to put it in perspective who was fighting more or harder; that's not the point, it's a long season, there's a lot of races and in the end the guy who has the most points wins the championship. Of course I'm very happy that it was us and not him."

Having spoken of "dirty tricks" employed by other teams this season following the race in Brazil, Vettel still refused to elaborate but said it was important to ignore any problems.

"It's not our decision and it's not in our hands when people try literally everything to beat us. I think that the most important thing is that you focus on yourself and you remain yourself; you don't try to be something that you're not, because I think it just distracts and that takes energy away."

Vettel also said that he felt he had handled the pressure well this season when things didn't appear to be going his or Red Bull's way or the team was taking criticism.

"If there wouldn't be attention then you would not be here and I wouldn't be in such a big building with so many people working for the same team, so of course there's an element of pressure in that regard. On top of that it's always getting more and more tense at the end of a year in the last couple of races, depending on who you fight in order to try to win the championship and certain things that may just be a little bit of rumours going around, other things that might get said and other things that might happen eye-to-eye without you having to mention anything or other people having to mention anything.

"It's not easy to stay focused in that regard. It's very, very hard but I think at least for me I always try to go step-by-step. I said Sunday after the race the hardest thing is to win after you have won - so winning after winning - because you get the attention and the pressure and you are very likely to focus on winning again rather than focus on the small steps that it takes to win in the first place. We won the championship last year after 2010 and won it this year again, so I don't want to praise ourselves but I think we have done a couple of things right."

In other words, Alonso did well like everyone else knows but hey what about me, I ended up scoring more points than him so throw some love my way,

[Stormy]

No one likes RBR and the celebration when he won the title wasnt apropriate for one F1 champion and evryone knows Alonso was the better driver who put up a greater fight.
F1 is so artificial this days how can one energy drink win over Ferrari and Mclaren...this is embaracing not just for us but for Mclaren to we need to step our game up.

[theforce]

No one likes RBR and the celebration when he won the title wasnt apropriate for one F1 champion and evryone knows Alonso was the better driver who put up a greater fight.
F1 is so artificial this days how can one energy drink win over Ferrari and Mclaren...this is embaracing not just for us but for Mclaren to we need to step our game up.

I simply turned off when Seb crossed the line, could not bare to watch him or CH. What was the celebration?

[EL_NANDO]

I simply turned off when Seb crossed the line, could not bare to watch him or CH. What was the celebration?

He basically came out with lots of snide and arrogants remarks, implying other teams used "dirty tactics" that Red Bull wouldn't ever use (but wouldn't say what they were). When asked by the German media what he thought of his collision with Bruno Senna he said "Ayrton's grave is close to the circuit, maybe we should go there and ask him what he made of his nephews move".

In contrast, Alonso was very professional and relaxed considering how close he came to winning.

[REDARMYSOJA]

He basically came out with lots of snide and arrogants remarks, implying other teams used "dirty tactics" that Red Bull wouldn't ever use (but wouldn't say what they were). When asked by the German media what he thought of his collision with Bruno Senna he said "Ayrton's grave is close to the circuit, maybe we should go there and ask him what he made of his nephews move".

The fact that after winning his 3rd straight WDC Vettel wanted to talk about "dirty tricks" just shows those tricks worked. They are probably what caused him to nearly choke at season's end. He ran over everything that moved and some things that didn't move at Abu Dhabhi, coming very close to throwing it away. Then threw a temper tantrum after getting passed by Hamilton at the USGP. And almost did himself in at Brazil on the first lap. Not the sort of thing a driver with nerves of steel does.

So it's obvious the head games worked. That's nice to know, as they will probably work in the future, at least until Vettel matures. And his comment about Senna shows he has a lot of maturing to do yet. That was a very low thing to do. Bruno was hanging onto his F1 seat by a thread, gets involved in an accident that was of Vettel's making, then has to listen to his dead Uncle (who Bruno was very close to) get brought up by Vettel in an attempt to shame Bruno.

I might could understand Vettel being frustrated about the incident with Bruno IF it had cost him the championship, even though as I say it was Vettel's mistake, but to say what he did after winning his 3rd straight championship, to belittle Bruno, shows what type of character Vettel has, or lacks. I read yesterday that Bruno would be replaced next season by Bottas. Not sure if it's true but I hope Vettel is happy with himself for adding insult to injury for Bruno.

He should at the least apologize to Bruno. And he better stay out of Brazil. I have a feeling he won't be very popular there.

[bluesilhouettes]

Some "dirty" tricks:
- Hamilton's unlapping himself to block him, in fact, he could not match Hamilton's pace.
- Massa had to make way for Fernando but Webber did not do the same for him. (in this case: Massa was a good teammate, Webber hates Vettel).
- Massa had to take a penalty beacause Alonso broke his gearbox seal (just for fun).
- Many people in media dont like Vettel and Redbull because they were arrogant and did not respect to others (for him: Everyone kept talking down Ferrari's cars and raised Alonso's role too much, Hamilton is stupid maybe Webber too, Narain is an idiot..., Mclaren and Ferrari and some other people kept talking him down, Ferrari used manually adjustable suspension like RB but they were the only one to change their car..., and their holes on the floor )
- Maybe he believes Senna hit him deliberately in the last race.

[Rob]

Some "dirty" tricks:
- Hamilton's unlapping himself to block him, in fact, he could not match Hamilton's pace.
- Massa had to make way for Fernando but Webber did not do the same for him. (in this case: Massa was a good teammate, Webber hates Vettel).
- Massa had to take a penalty beacause Alonso broke his gearbox seal (just for fun).
- Many people in media dont like Vettel and Redbull because they were arrogant and did not respect to others (for him: Everyone kept talking down Ferrari's cars and raised Alonso's role too much, Hamilton is stupid maybe Webber too, Narain is an idiot..., Mclaren and Ferrari and some other people kept talking him down, Ferrari used manually adjustable suspension like RB but they were the only one to change their car..., and their holes on the floor )
- Maybe he believes Senna hit him deliberately in the last race.

about right

[F-e-r-r-nando]

The fact that after winning his 3rd straight WDC Vettel wanted to talk about "dirty tricks" just shows those tricks worked. They are probably what caused him to nearly choke at season's end. He ran over everything that moved and some things that didn't move at Abu Dhabhi, coming very close to throwing it away. Then threw a temper tantrum after getting passed by Hamilton at the USGP. And almost did himself in at Brazil on the first lap. Not the sort of thing a driver with nerves of steel does.

So it's obvious the head games worked. That's nice to know, as they will probably work in the future, at least until Vettel matures. And his comment about Senna shows he has a lot of maturing to do yet. That was a very low thing to do. Bruno was hanging onto his F1 seat by a thread, gets involved in an accident that was of Vettel's making, then has to listen to his dead Uncle (who Bruno was very close to) get brought up by Vettel in an attempt to shame Bruno.

I might could understand Vettel being frustrated about the incident with Bruno IF it had cost him the championship, even though as I say it was Vettel's mistake, but to say what he did after winning his 3rd straight championship, to belittle Bruno, shows what type of character Vettel has, or lacks. I read yesterday that Bruno would be replaced next season by Bottas. Not sure if it's true but I hope Vettel is happy with himself for adding insult to injury for Bruno.

He should at the least apologize to Bruno. And he better stay out of Brazil. I have a feeling he won't be very popular there.

^Very well said!

Up until recently I kind of liked Vettel, however his actions of late are making that more difficult. I feel badly for Bruno, but the "dirty tricks" talk is really too much for me. He has 2 STR cars jumping out of his way all season long, and in the clinching race one is ordered to stay 20-seconds behind him in case he should need that help, yet after winning he decides to bring up others dirty tricks? Unbelievable. . .

Btw, Red, in case you don't remember, I'm 99_Torne from Speed. Hope to see you over at Mayhem sometime soon.

[FFFerrari]

Vettel is still very young and immature and it shows. Yes, he has raw talent but it takes years to start acting calmly in every situation. It's good to know that he has basic respect for some of the drivers because it clearly shows he doesn't have for some of them.

[71dino]

personally, i find vettel to be a spoiled, arrogant brat that fits in quite well with the other similar personalities at red bull. not sure why webber remains in the fold.

[fratelliferrari]

You are right 71dino. It's a team without any emotions. Sometimes i get the feeling the RBR team is made of robots instead of human beings